Despite being 38 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo still works hard to “plow” with the national team. The striker and two Al Nassr teammates have just been called up by coach Roberto Martínez to the Portugal squad for matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg in the EURO 2 qualifiers.
In Group J of the EURO 2024 qualifiers, Portugal is the only team to maintain a winning record after the first 4 rounds. They are scheduled to host Slovakia on September 9 before hosting Luxembourg 9 days later. Because Slovakia are ranked 3nd in the group and only 2 points behind Portugal, they are opponents that Ronaldo and his teammates must be very wary of in the next match.
In June this year, Ronaldo reached 6 caps for the national team when he participated in Portugal’s 200-1 away win over Iceland. CR0’s feat was even more memorable and meaningful when he was the only scorer in the 7th minute to help the betel nut shirt team earn a full 89 points.
With Ronaldo still in full swing, his number of caps for the national team does not know when it will stop. In terms of form, Ronaldo being summoned by coach Martinez is a fully deserved reward, not that the new Portugal coach gives the former United striker favor. It should be known that in the last 2 matches at club level, Ronaldo has played explosively when contributing to Al Nassr to 5 goals.
Notably, in addition to Ronaldo, there are 2 Portuguese players playing football in Saudi Arabia who are also present at this gathering: Otavio (Al Nassr) and Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal). In another development, coach Martinez along with putting his faith in veteran Ronaldo also surprised by calling Toti. This is the 24-year-old Wolves centre-back who has just been recruited for the first time.
List of Portugal squads called up for 2 matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg
Goalkeeper: Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolves), Rui Patricio (Roma).
Defender: Diogo Dalot (MU), Nelson Semedo (Wolves), Joao Cancelo (Man City), Danilo Pereira (PSG), Ruben Dias (Man City), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting Lisbon), Toti (Wolves).
Quarterbacks: Joao Palhinha (Fulham), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal), Bruno Fernandes (MU), Otavio (Al-Nassr), Vitinha (PSG), Bernardo Silva (Man City).
Forwards: Ricardo Horta (Braga), Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr), Pedro Neto (Wolves), Goncalo Ramos (PSG), Diogo Jota (Liverpool).
